Marcus Peters the best CB vs. crossing routes in 2016, per PFF

Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters followed up his rookie season with an outstanding sophomore campaign in 2016.

While 2015 was the year of interceptions for Peters, 2016 showed us just how effective Peters is at blanketing receivers and shutting down his side of the field. Peters is truly becoming one of the best cover corners in the game.

“Peters was targeted six times on crossing routes in 2016, allowing only one catch for 6 yards. His 1 yard allowed per target was the lowest mark among all qualifying corners. He had a QB rating against of 39.6, second-best in the league. His crossing routes were closer to drag routes than deep crosses, as his aDOT [average depth of target] against was only 7.5 yards, with just two targets coming deeper than 10 yards (13 and 18 yards).

Peters was aligned in man coverage on all six of his targets, and his lone completion was against the Chargers’ Tyrell Williams, who led all receivers in yards on the crossing route. Peters did give up one big play to Indianapolis’ T.Y. Hilton for 40 yards that was called back on an offensive penalty. On this play, however, Andrew Luck had 4.9 seconds to throw, and the completion is more on the pass rush than Peters.”

For reference on what certain types of routes look like, here’s a photo courtesy of PFF:

This is amazing work from Crist. I was curious to see Peters against a crossing route after reading this piece, so I hit the game film to find an example of Peters successfully covering a crossing route.

I ended up pulling this play against Chargers receiver Geremy Davis:

This play is relatively close to a dig route, but it’s similar enough to where the skill set needed to defend it remains the same.

As you can see from multiple angles, Peters (at the top of the screen) remains in stride with Davis, also shadowing him close (but not too close). Just as Davis comes in contact with the ball, Peters slams his body forward into Davis’ with his arms extended, attempting to make a play on the ball. This is textbook coverage.